01-05-2012, 04:23 PM
Everyone has choices, you live by them and sometimes die by them.... to say they don't is ignorant.
That being said, the environment that you are born into will give you a different perspective on life. Growing up right outside Boston I was in a gang when I was young, pulled some charges and then made the choice to get out of the lifestyle before the lifestyle took over my life. Took 14 years to get 2 felonies off my record, but they are gone. As well as 4 friends that have been shot, 2 that were stabbed and countless more that are doing bids or that have spent 10+ years in and out of prison.
Do I blame the lifestyle or blame them for the choices they made? Had they been hard working, mind their own business people that got killed in a robbery, then that would be different. But they weren't. Some of them had better upbringing than I did, but still CHOSE that lifestyle. Others were born into it and moved on before I was smart enough to.
I can tell you as I look back on how I was, I can see how lucky I am to not be dead or still in jail for some of the stupid shit I did for "respect" and "family".
Just because you are in a Urban of Rural environment now, does not mean you have always been there, nor does it give you more or less credibility to argue one side or the other. We are all given choices based on what is around us. Sometimes there is less opportunity for some, but they are still there.
That being said, the environment that you are born into will give you a different perspective on life. Growing up right outside Boston I was in a gang when I was young, pulled some charges and then made the choice to get out of the lifestyle before the lifestyle took over my life. Took 14 years to get 2 felonies off my record, but they are gone. As well as 4 friends that have been shot, 2 that were stabbed and countless more that are doing bids or that have spent 10+ years in and out of prison.
Do I blame the lifestyle or blame them for the choices they made? Had they been hard working, mind their own business people that got killed in a robbery, then that would be different. But they weren't. Some of them had better upbringing than I did, but still CHOSE that lifestyle. Others were born into it and moved on before I was smart enough to.
I can tell you as I look back on how I was, I can see how lucky I am to not be dead or still in jail for some of the stupid shit I did for "respect" and "family".
Just because you are in a Urban of Rural environment now, does not mean you have always been there, nor does it give you more or less credibility to argue one side or the other. We are all given choices based on what is around us. Sometimes there is less opportunity for some, but they are still there.